Trump set to authorize tariffs

with the deliberations, The New York Times reported.

It was not immediately clear whether the proclamation would list countries to be exempted as pressure grew for Trump to exclude US allies from the action.

“We expect that the president will sign something by the end of the week and there are potential carve-outs for Mexico and Canada based on national security, and possibly other countries as well based on that process,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a regular news conference. “It will be country by country, and it will be based on national security.”

NAFTA talks

trade hard-liners such as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade policy adviser, and the possibility that the tariffs will be implemented.

In his first tweet on Wednesday, Trump showed no sign of backing down, saying the US had lost more than 55,000 factories and 6 million manufacturing jobs and let its trade deficit soar since the administration of president George H.W. Bush.

The announcement, applauded by US steel and aluminum producers, has triggered widespread concerns and protests from foreign governments, US lawmakers and the business community that will be negatively affected by such tariffs.

The European Union on Wednesday announced a provisional list of US items, ranging from US steel and T-shirts to chewing tobacco and orange juice that it will retaliate against over Trump’s tariffs on EU steel and aluminum.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU trade commissioner, told a news conference in Brussels that such a move by the US would “put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy, and it has to be met by a firm and proportionate response”.

US tariffs could cause “drastic consequences” for the German and European steel industry, German Steel Federation warned on Wednesday.